(upbeat music)

- A fairy tale relationship.

That's what Claire Culwell was envisioning

with her birth mother.

Claire thanked her birth momfor choosing life for her.

So what happened next?

A stunning revelation.

- [Narrator] Claire Culwellwas adopted as an infant

and grew up in a loving home.

When she decided to meether biological mother,

what she was told was shocking.

- They told my birth mother

that she had been pregnant with twins

and that I had survived her abortion.

- [Narrator] In her new book, "Survivor,"

Claire shares how she chose forgiveness

and found redemption.

- Please welcome to the"700 Club" Claire Culwell.

Claire, it's great tohave you with us today.

- Thank you so much for having me.

- You were adopted intoa very loving home.

Tell us about your mom and dad.

- I was, I was adopted

as soon as I was releasedfrom the hospital.

In fact, my sister and I are both adopted,

and we were adopted byTexans who loved the Lord.

They spoke such encouragementover us as adopted children.

We knew that we were wanted,chosen and loved by them,

but also by God.

And so meeting our birth mothers one day,

we knew what could possiblybe part of our story,

but we knew that circumstancesdidn't define us.

It was what our family said about us

and what God said about us.

So it was an incredible experience.

- So what made you wannameet your birth mother,

and what did you expect from her?

- My sister had actuallymet her birth mother.

And so that moment that Imet my sister's birth mother

and saw how much they looked alike

and how much they acted alike,

it got me thinking aboutmy own birth mother.

I knew that I was so gratefulfor my sister's birth mother

because she gave me my sister.

And so I decided I wantedto meet my birth mother.

And I just hoped that I could thank her

for giving me my life.

I obviously hoped that she would want

a relationship with me,

but I didn't know what I was walking into.

Ultimately, I just wanted to thank her

for giving me my family and my life.

- So it was the second meeting with her

that was really a challenging one for you.

Talk about what happened.

- I walked into the shock of a lifetime.

I had met her just a couple months before,

and we had this incredible reunion.

I brought my family,she brought her family.

I remember the moment she opened the door,

and it was like looking in the mirror.

I knew that I instantly loved

and adored my birth mother Tonya.

And so the second meeting,

I kinda thought would go the same way.

I would fly to Oklahoma,where she lived, from Texas,

and I would thank heragain for giving me my life

and my family and continueto get to know her.

But what happened is when I thanked her,

for giving me my life,

she broke down into tears,

and I sat face to facewith my birth mother

as she described beingpregnant at 13 years old

and her mother telling her thatthere was one choice for her

and that was to have an abortion.

And so my birth motherdescribed this experience

of going through this gruesome D&E,

which is a dismembermentabortion, at 13 years old.

And when it failed,

she had to go to Kansas totry to have a second one.

And then when that didn't work,

because they turned her awaydue to possible infection,

she placed me for adoption.

And so I found out in that moment

that I was unwanted,rejected, and even aborted

and that I had been a twin,

that I had survived mybirth mother's abortion

and had been living mylife without my twin,

because my twin was successfully aborted.

- [Terry] Wow.

- But her tears, her tears are what,

every single day, getsme up in the morning

and helps me to share my story

because I knew instantlythat I forgave her.

And I knew instantly thatI wanted to fight for her

and for people like my twin and myself

and generations who arebeing affected by abortion.

- So here you are sittingwith your birth mom

with the understanding thatshe chose to give you life,

and then you learn that you'rethe survivor of an abortion.

What was your immediate response to that?

- Gosh, I couldn't believe it.

I mean, I felt like I was in this movie,

having this outer body experience

that this can't really be me.

I mean, I lived my life as a Christian,

thinking I would neverbe the type of person

who had been affected by abortion,

but here I was learning thatI was the face of abortion.

And so it was absolutely shocking,

but like I said, my birthmother's tears were so loud

in that room that day,

that I knew that God'sfingerprints were all over this

and this was an opportunity for me

to model the love andthe forgiveness of Christ

that I knew, that I grew up knowing about,

hearing about, being modeled for me,

because I knew that that was available

for my birth mother too.

What Christ did on the crossfor me, He did for her too.

And so I embraced her, and I forgave her.

- One of the things thatforgiveness does is sets us free.

Do you feel like your birthmom was able to receive that?

- She was.

A few years later, ittook her a little while.

I was, for a long time, the reminder

of what happened to her at 13 years old,

and that was reallyhard for her and for me.

But she has come to know the Lord,

she's come to acceptHis forgiveness of her.

And she did say to me,

the first time she shared her story

on a program similar to this,

she said, "Claire, thank youso much for this opportunity.

I feel free."

And that was the freedomthat she found in the Lord

and His love and forgiveness for her.

- Do you have arelationship with her today?

- I do, I do.

I have a relationshipwith her, her family.

I have three half-sistersthat she kept and raised,

and so I have a relationship with them,

and I'm just so grateful.

The first time that I was on your show

was right after I met my birth mother.

And I said then, andit's still true today,

that she is my hero

because she didn't haveto tell me this story,

but she did.

And because of that,lives are being changed.

- Absolutely, thankyou for being so candid

and sharing your story.

I want to share with you Claire's book.

It's called "Survivor."

It's available where books are sold,

a tremendous story offorgiveness and redemption.

Great to have you back again, Claire.

Thank you for being with us.

- Thank you so much for having me.